REGULATIONS / AE
United Arab Emirates: drone rules for inspection
The UAE regulates drones under Federal Decree-Law 26 of 2022 and GCAA UAS regulations (CAR-UAC for commercial and government use, CAR-UAR for recreation, and others). Every drone must be registered before flight, operators need a safety certificate and crew need qualification certificates. Unauthorised flight in restricted or prohibited areas can bring 6 months to 5 years in prison or fines up to AED 1 million, so security-authority approval is central to inspection near critical infrastructure. After individual flights were suspended in 2022, operations resumed for companies and government bodies on 25 November 2024 via the UAE Drones platform, with Remote ID required, and recreational flying resumed under conditions in 2025. The detailed commercial CAR could not be retrieved and is unverified.
Checked against official sources
Fields are recorded in the language of the research notes.
| Authority | アラブ首長国連邦民間航空総局 (GCAA)、首長国ごとの航空当局（ドバイDCAA等）、内務省 / General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA); emirate-level 'competent authorities' such as the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA); Ministry of Interior (flight-ban and resumption decisions) |
| Main framework | Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2022 regulating the civil use of drones (issued 26 September 2022, in force three months after publication), plus GCAA Civil Aviation Regulations on UAS: CAR-UAC (commercial and governmental operations, Issue 02), CAR-UAR (recreational flights, Issue 04), CAR-UA-ATO (training organisations), CAR-UAD (demonstrations) and CAR-UAEV (events). The CAR texts could not be read because the proxy rejects their URLs as too long. Their content is therefore not verified against an official source, 2026-10-22. |
| Registration | Under Decree-Law 26/2022 Art. 7, every drone must be registered before it is operated and must show its registration number or identifier, and operating an unregistered drone is an offence. The GCAA keeps a unified national register. Emirate-level competent authorities issue registrations and permits and feed data into it. Registration is done through the national UAE Drones platform/app (drones.gov.ae). |
| Remote ID | When operations resumed for companies and government bodies (from 25 November 2024), drones had to have a remote identification broadcast system, and a tracking device could be requested from e& (Etisalat) where one was missing (Aletihad report of the Ministry of Interior announcement). |
| Pilot licensing | Decree-Law 26/2022 requires operators to hold a safety certificate before operating (Art. 11) and requires operators, pilots, observers and crew to hold qualification certificates (Art. 4). Training needs a licence or permit. The exact certificate types and requirements in CAR-UAC and CAR-UA-ATO were not read (not verified against an official source, 2026-10-22). |
| Risk categories | The Decree-Law allows commercial, service, research, recreational and government public-service uses (Art. 6), with separate GCAA CARs for commercial/governmental, recreational, demonstration and event operations. Any risk-category scheme inside CAR-UAC was not read (not verified against an official source, 2026-10-22). |
| BVLOS | (not verified against an official source, 2026-10-22) |
| Night & over people | Operators must keep safe distances from people, property and aircraft (Decree-Law Art. 10). Recreational flying since the 2025 easing is reported as daylight-only and within line of sight, at or below 400 ft, in green zones only (Gulf News report; not verified against an official source, 2026-10-22). Commercial night and over-people rules were not checked (not verified against an official source, 2026-10-22). |
| Near structures | The GCAA defines approved, restricted and prohibited areas and permitted heights. Flying in or over restricted or prohibited areas without authorisation is banned. Government entities and companies may be allowed to operate there for public-interest purposes with security-authority approval (Arts. 8-9). Unauthorised operation in such areas can bring 6 months to 5 years in prison and/or a fine of AED 50,000-1,000,000 (Art. 18). For inspection near critical infrastructure, permission from the security authorities is therefore central. Recreational users are reported to be barred from flying near public or private property and within 5 km of airports, heliports and airfields (Gulf News; not verified against an official source, 2026-10-22). |
| Indoor & confined | (not verified against an official source, 2026-10-22) |
| Imaging & privacy | Breaching privacy with a drone is an offence under Decree-Law 26/2022 Art. 16 (fine AED 50,000-500,000). Federal Decree-Law 45/2021 on personal data protection also applies (not verified against an official source, 2026-10-22). |
| Recent changes | Civilian drone flights by individuals were suspended in January 2022 (not verified against an official source, 2026-10-22). Phase one of the resumption began on 25 November 2024 (Ministry of Interior with GCAA and NCEMA): the UAE Drones platform opened to companies, government bodies and research, testing or exhibition entities, which apply for operational permits through the app. A later phase let individuals fly recreationally again under conditions: registration, drones of 5 kg or less, green zones, daylight, VLOS, ≤400 ft. Gulf News gives the start date as 7 January 2025, while other reports point to April-May 2025, so the exact date is not verified against an official source, 2026-10-22. Dubai-specific rules were not checked. |
Sources
- Federal Decree by Law No. (26) of 2022 Regulating the Civil Use of Drones and Activities Affiliated With ItFull text read
- UAE announces phased approach to resuming drone operationsFull text read
- UAE lifts conditional ban on individual drone useFull text read
Sources checked: 2026-10-22